TENGEN TOPPA KYUUBI LAGANN
by Warrior Emperor Z 1991
Summary: Because of the neglect and the hate form the teachers, Naruto isn't taught how to access his Chakra on first day of school like all the other students. So after seeing all the students gain access to their Chakra, when he gets home Naruto immediately tries to access his own accidentally opens a wormhole to another time where he start his journey where he finds hope or despair
1. prologue captain beastlock

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Gurren Lagann

Galaxies, some of the most beautiful things in the universe. Stars abound in galaxies as the sand covers a beach, creating a luminous spectacle for anyone see, or at least anyone who has access to an observatory or satellites, or a really big ship. The spiral shape of a galaxy represents the way galaxies move themselves in the vastness of the space, where there is only black matter. Or does it represent something more? The eternal struggle of life, always striving to survive, evolve and, especially, _live_. What is the purpose of a life whose only objective is to exist, to consume energy? Where do happiness, beauty, hope, faith and love fit in? There should be something beyond the Beyond, right? Those were the thoughts of a pensive man who had lost his innocence long ago. However, he dismissed those thoughts when an entire galaxy exploded in front of his ship.

"Shields are going down," a technician called, tapping furiously at his terminal keyboard, "Lord Hokage, chakra armor plate is detaching!"

The Man didn't seem bothered.

"We received some hits in blocks 566 through 630!" another one warned in a preoccupied tone. The blast illuminated the area, showing the flag: a red skull, made of flames, with V-shaped shades, over a blank white background.

"Damage?" He asked, with a neutral voice, calmly walking to the front of the bridge. The man had blond hair and was wearing a bluish cape, with the same symbol as on the flag. Under his cape, he was wearing a black top, baring her midriff, and blue leather pants, with red stripes on the sides. The sound of his heels clacking on the deck cut through the noise of bridge activity.

"Minimal, but our cloaking device is history!"

"Worry not," he replied; he was starting to get excited at the idea of a massive battle. He strode forward and stood next his loyal commander, a woman with a white uniform who didn't look quite human, wearing a blue beret and gold glasses. "What's exactly the size of the enemy fleet?"

"Enemy fleet is off the charts!" a female technician replied, looking at the blinking radar.

"So, all the lights in the skies and the heavens of above are our enemies now, huh?" he smirked, as he was toying with a golden pendant, shaped like a drill. "Please,madara and his foolish akatsuki let this happen, I can't blame him since I took his bijju and the gedo statue,So let's give them something special. They're worthy opponents, but they aren't aware of who I am! I'll use the fabric of space and time to wring them out of the existence!" She looked at the commander and ordered, "Now!"

"Yes, milord!" The commander lifted his hand and yelled out an order. "Prepare the Maelstrom cannon! Target the great dimension waterfall!" Nobody questioned the order, even if some technicians had concerned looks on their faces. The main technician ordered, "Star the Dark Matter Harvester!" One dared to mutter under his breath, "Oh, I don't like where this is going..."

"Juubi Lagann, SPIN ON!" he said, smugly crossing his arms. "Who the hell do you think I am?" Winds lifted his cape and his hair flowed in the breeze, and the giant ship started to transform, cannons started to move, and the giant face in the front started to accumulate energy. It finally fired, and a massive explosion engulfed everything in sight.

**TENGEN TOPPA KYUUBI LAGANN**

**This is the story of a man who has yet to realize what his destiny is.**


	2. Chapter 1: Break Through The Vault Of th

_Digging tunnels, day after day... That's my job, since I learn the truth about how my parents died. Since I arrive everyone has their duty, and that's mine, to be part of the digging vanguard. If we dig deeper and deeper, the village can expand, and this makes the chief happy. Sometimes he gives us pig-mole steaks if he's happy. But I don't dig only for the steaks. There should be more to life than digging for steaks, even if our job is important. The village must expand because, at any moment, an earthquake could make the ceiling fall on top of us. That's a fact of life, if the ceiling falls then everyone dies... just like my parents. A bald wise man said it was seven years ago, but nobody but him seems to bother with time, since day after day it's the same routine for everyone. That's why I dig to find other things, treasures. They're very rare but if I look carefully I can find some really neat stuff. Who am I that easy my name is Naruto Uzumaki. Now that you are think about how I got here . it started when I lost my aniki? I remember that I was running from villagers that despise me! _

_A small blonde boy was running headlong into the forest. Being only ten years old and unnaturally thin, the boy ran through the smallest spaces, not caring as the branches wiped him in the face and rocks cut into his bare feet. His tattered clothing was falling apart as he continued to run away from the mob that had gathered behind him. His brother had warned him to stay inside their apartment for the duration of the festival. But Naruto had been so hungry; he didn't want to wait to see what his brother could scrape up. So Naruto had snuck down to the town square and wandered the colorful stalls. He was having the time of his life until he had bumped into another villager. Naruto gasped and hurried to apologize to the little girl he had knocked over, but the girl's mother yanked her away and began to scream about how Naruto had just assaulted her daughter. Angry villagers had closed around him as Naruto tried to explain that he hadn't meant any harm. A drunken man rushed forward to slap Naruto in the face. The other villagers jumped in then, punching, scratching, and spitting. Naruto struggled to free himself from his attackers. There were more people than usual so he had to avoid broken bottles, rocks, and other things they were hurling at him as he bolted for the forest._

_The Naruto mentally kicked himself for wandering outside of his tiny apartment. I should have just listened to Kamina, he thought bitterly. Naruto had been the victim of brutal beating in the past, but the villagers had always stopped when he had escaped. Naruto had always known that the villagers hated him, he just didn't know why. Naruto heard many of the people fall away, but this fact didn't comfort him. Naruto knew that the few people left following him were ninja employed by the village. He saw a blur streak past him and knew that the chase was still on. He began to panic as the blurs surrounded him. His foot caught on a root and he tumbled forward. The ninja materialized around him and Naruto wondered if this was the end as they began to laugh and kick him. He lay, curled into a ball, but then his brother's voice echoed into his head._

_"__Get up, Naruto. Never let anyone tell you that you are inferior. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Believe in me, who believes in you!"_

_If Kamina thinks I can do it, than I can! Naruto thought as he slowly raised himself from the ground. Naruto lowered himself into his fighting stance and braced himself as the man directly in front of him launched a punch at him. Naruto winced from the force of the blow, knowing that his face would be bruised for days after. Naruto raised his fist and sent a chakra infused punch into the ninja's stomach, just like Kamina had taught him. The ninja doubled over and fell to the ground. The other ninjas roared and jumped in to hold Naruto down so the others could hurt him._

_"Time for us to end the demon's life." One man shouted. What the hell are they talking about? Naruto thought desperately._

_"KILL THE DEMON!" Another chanted._

_Just when Naruto began to give up hope he picked up a voice that made his heart leap._

_"Hey, what the hell are you assholes doing? Leave my brother alone!" Kamina's voice rang out as he ran to Naruto's aid._

_Naruto watched as Kamina pushed through the crowd and yanked the ninja off of him._

_For a 17 year old, Kamina was well muscled and quick. He swung the drunken ninja away from Naruto and grabbed at the sheathed katana that he carried behind his back. Kamina focused his chakra and released his energy in one swift motion._

_"Air Breaker!" Kamina yelled as he swung his blade, letting loose a gust of wind strong enough to tear at the ninja's flesh. The ninja were unable to avoid the attack and were rendered unconscious as Kamina helped Naruto to his feet. Staring at his little brother's bloodstained and bruised face, Kamina felt his features soften into a sad smile._

_"Hey, I told you to wait at the house while I got your surprise." Kamina said. "Happy birthday." Kamina reached behind his to grasp a long package wrapped in brown paper. He shoved it into Naruto's hands. "Open it now."_

_Naruto unwrapped the package and found a sword just like Kamina's._

_"Thanks, Aniki" Naruto said. He brought it to the ready as the five ninja in front of them began to pick themselves up off the ground._

_"I didn't know you would need it so soon." Kamina said with a hint of a laugh. He fell into place next to his little brother and as he eyed the shinobi as they began to surround them._

_"Kamina stop this at once. Step aside and let us have him" one of the ninjas ordered._

_Kamina smirked as the two boys shifted their positions until they were back-to-back; protecting each other._

_"Who the hell do you think we are?" Kamina whispered as he dropped into his fighting stance._

_"What did you say?" the ninja asked, a little uneasy. Naruto felt smirked as he felt Kamina's body shaking in silent laughter._

_"I said..." Kamina paused, elbowing Naruto slightly. Naruto elbowed back, knowing exactly what to do._

_"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!" The two boys screamed in union._

_"We are the Gurren Brigade!" Kamina yelled at the ninja who had spoken._

_"We never abandon those who are precious to us…" Naruto yelled; continuing where Kamina had left off._

_The shinobi charged them before they could finish speaking; aiming to kill. Kamina and Naruto leaped into battle, continuing to shout they're mantra, as one._

_"No matter the obstacle or difficulty we'll move forward…" Naruto parried a shuriken with his new blade, the sound of metal-on-metal screeching; sending sparks into the air._

_"If you become a wall in our way, we'll smash you down. And if there isn't a way, we'll carve it with these hands" Kamina blocked another ninja, sending his fist into the man's face. He quickly moved on to the next opponent; focusing on taking down one enemy at a time._

_As the last two ninja remained, Naruto and Kamina braced themselves for the final part of the brawl. Kamina became wary as the two shinobi shared a wicked grin and began a chain of complicated hand signs. The ninja nearest to Naruto finished his jutsu first. Kamina cursed under his breath, knowing what he had to do. He rushed to defend Naruto as the boy was caught off guard by an onslaught of flames._

_"Naruto, remember, believe in yourself. Not in you who believes in me, not in me that believes in you; believe in you who believes in yourself." Kamina said as he started his assault._

_Kamina began to spin his blade with such speed it began to resemble the spiral of a giant drill as he charged. Naruto watched in awe and was only vaguely aware of a high pitched chirping noise that was coming up behind him._

_"Final Blow! GIGA DRILL BREAKER!" Kamina screamed as he struck the fire spewing ninja, drilling a hole through the body. Naruto gasped as blood splattered the trees and ground; propelled by the force of Kamina's attack._

_Kamina turned and yelled for Naruto to get down, but the boy was too shocked to move. Kamina ran and knocked into Naruto, causing him to fall to the ground. Naruto closed his eyes tightly as he heard a sickening squish that he recognized as blood. Naruto suddenly heard his brother gasping in pain and Naruto's eyes flew open. Above him, Kamina was standing with the last ninja's arm through his chest. Naruto watched as blue lightning ran over the surface of Kamina's body, and blood flowed onto the ground from his wound. Naruto heard a low gasp from the attacker, but Naruto couldn't force his eyes to move away from Kamina's mangled body as the ninja roughly ripped his arm out of Kamina's chest. Kamina crumpled to the ground as the ninja was muttering._

_"Oh god, I couldn't stop…" Naruto didn't even register the man's voice. By the time Naruto had looked away from his brother's face, the man had fled into the darkness of the forest. Naruto could feel Kamina's labored breathing. He felt his body shaking and realized there were tears flowing down his face._

_"Why?" He whimpered. "W-Why did you get in the way?"_

_"I had to, Naruto; he was aiming right for you."_

_Naruto sobbed. "I don't want you to die! Please; don't leave me alone! Aniki!" A light rain was starting, washing away the blood from the battle._

_"This isn't goodbye, Naruto. I'll always be with you" He said. "Don't you remember what we call ourselves?" Kamina asked. He smiled slightly, blood trickling down the side of his mouth._

_"Soul-brothers." Naruto whispered as Kamina's eyes began to darken and his eyelids drooped._

_"I'm with you; right here" Kamina said as he pointed to Naruto's heart._

_Kamina's arm fell limp to the floor as he closed his eyes for the last time. Naruto let out broken sob as the rain drenched him. He clutched onto his dead brother's body, feeling cold, wet, and, utterly, alone._

_Suddenly I run to my apartment to pack my stuff and the went to the family graveyard to seal my parents in a scroll after that I immediately try to access my chakra to use the flying raijin jutsu to leave this place to make the pain go away though I had no idea on how to access it, which leads to accessing a different and more powerful energy__which open a hole in time which would lead me here in this desert. Then suddenly I remember my dad, 10 years ago, a mysterious man named simon came to the Village. He claimed that he was from another world where he fought and won, brought peace but the villagers do not trust him. The fourth hokage offered Simon to move in with his wife who was pregnant with me, Naruto at the time. 4 years later, the nine tail fox attack the village but her power was seal with a price, killed the fourth and his wife, leaving me in Simon's care. He also took me under his wing and trained me in the art of sword fighting. He also taught me his survival techniques. For 5 years he raised me with dedication. Not even once I complained about anything._

_. Simon is still the same as he was 10 years ago. This made me wander, Why Simon still look the same as he was years ago? But I never said anything to Simon, fearing that simon will force me to run around the village until sunset. Simon is always there for me and take care of me. That's why I loved him not as a brother, but as a father figure. I also know that my parents are already dead from a letter from my parents from the hokage's office with a couple of seal jutsu and my birth father's flying raijin and rasengan jutsu four months back. _

_ The man __who trains and raises me __in everything he knows leaving the village for the last time with the exact same time hole,__"Look at that kiddo. This is out. The world!" A thirty-year-old man with wild and spikey black hair. He wore a black garlock jacket with a red flame skull with black V-shape shades and orange flames on the bottom. He also wore a brown shirt, brown pants, and brown shoes. On his left hand was a bracelet with a drill hanging on it from a small chain. _

_The young Naruto looked at the vast land, red colored from the setting sun before saying, "There's nothing here…" _

_"Nope! Not a thing!" His father said happily, much to the confusion of his son. _

_"Huh?" _

_"That's why I like it. No walls. No ceiling. This is truly a man's world!" His father then looked down to him with a grin on his face before asking, "So, are you coming?" _

_Naruto looked down in shame. He wanted to follow his father. He really did. But he was scared. He knew nothing about the surface! What if his dad died from something up here? What if… he died? Naruto slightly inched his foot back, towards the hole his father had dug to get up here. _

_His father's expression turned to a small smile of understanding before he softly said, "I see…" His father then placed his left hand on Naruto's head, making Naruto look at the small drill that was attached to his father's bracelet. "When you are ready, come up and join me." Naruto could hear the slightest hint of sadness in his father's voice as he took his hand from Naruto's head then gave naruto his jacket and a box with a note saying not to open until yout ten years old then turned around shouting, "Until then Naruto, goodbye!" _

_That would be the last time I ever saw my father alive. After remembering that I vow that I would walk the same Path that my family walks on, the path of piece. Now you know about me lets continue the story._

Day after day, diggers from Jiha Village dug their way through the soil, and among them was a boy named _Naruto Uzumaki_. Not that last names mattered, since everyone got their last name from the village's name anyway, and everyone called him Naruto the Digger in any case. Naruto is about 5 feet 4 inch tall because of his good diet, thanks to Simon, who always force him to eat healthy food. Naruto was a thin, light-skinned young boy, with solemn blue eyes and unusual golden hair. His hair used to be longer, but he was forced to cut it because it was hard to keep long hair in the small, dirty tunnels, and now he had a very short hair, not even covering his neck. He wore a dirty brown cloak over his sarashi, and a brown and dirty shorts and shoes (brown was the most common color in the village), and other than that he only wore his illumination goggles, necessary to work in the dark. In spite of his apparently frail physique this is also the reason why Naruto was once of the most popular teenage boys among the girls and one of the best diggers in the village, since he was the only blonde boy in the vanguard group.

The diggers were divided into three groups: vanguard, construction and cleaners. The cleaners had the duty of cleaning the way after the vanguard and construction groups did their jobs; the construction took care of working the way dug by the vanguard to build new homesteads and other installations, and the vanguard had the most dangerous duty, to open the way for the expansion by digging forward. Most of the vanguard group was made up of orphaned kids, because it wasn't uncommon to lose a vanguard member to earthquakes and landfalls, so the chief decided that, to lessen the grief, it was better to put orphaned kids in the vanguard, so fewer people would mourn for them. The pessimists said those kids were lucky, because if they died early, they wouldn't have to endure the harsh way of underground life for too long. The life expectancy really wasn't so great either way; the wise bald man calculated that the average person lived 45 of those 'years', and then died.

But, obviously, this wasn't in Naruto's plans. In spite of his hardly promising prospects for the future, he wanted to make something more of his life than living and dying underground (and she had friends that thought the same way). Even knowing of the dangers of his duty, he dug 'extra-official' tunnels, looking for treasures. Pretty, shiny stones, bits of scraps, even strange things that he couldn't identify, but we would call 'forks', 'spoons', 'combs' and other stuff. He just kept them, but one thing that always called her attention was a box. It was a small white rectangular box that, whenever Naruto opened it, would play a calm and soothing melody (if he knew how to read, he would know that the music was composed by someone named Tchaikovsky, as indicated on the bottom of the box. It was a miracle that it still worked). This was his secret, not because of egoism or vanity, but just the pleasure of having something that only he knew and could show to his true friends.

Speaking of secrets and treasures, while he was digging, he found a new one. He could feel when his drill stumbled upon something different than soil. he marked the spot where the soil was different and took off the dirt. When he rubbed off the remaining dirt, he stared at his new treasure: it was a tiny golden drill, with some kind of hilt. The part that really called his attention was that the drill was glowing, blinking a faint green. _Beautiful,_ he thought as smiled, amazed with the mini-drill.

He turned back towards the village and dug back to the tunnel's entrance, popping out from the soil. The chief, a corpulent and rather unpleasant man, who was supervising some construction members doing their job, saw Naruto coming out and yelled at them. "Why can't you dig like him, you losers? And he's just a runt!" he said, trying to encourage them to work harder, waving his sheathed katana like it was a whip, whacking the air. Only the chief could wield the Ancestral Sword, as it was called, a true relic that nobody, not even the wise bald man knew anything about. Just seeing a chief with the Ancestral Sword was enough to instill respectful fear in anyone, but the current one didn't think it was enough.

Naruto didn't bother. After he 'sheathed' his drill, he picked a piece of string out of his pocket and tied it with the mini-drill. He quickly transformed the glowing artifact into a necklace, and smiled, proud of his work. He didn't notice when she came across the popular girls, who had come to get some water at the central pool. They were the queen bees of the village, thinking they were above the less popular kids, who were their favorite targets for scathing insults. That moment, their target was Naruto; he could see and hear them.

"Ew! It's Naruto the Digger!" one of them said in a mocking voice.

"I don't get it!" the other added with a conceited grin, "What's the fun of getting covered by dirt everyday?" All this just because they were allowed to wash more often, although to be fair Naruto really was covered in dirt, the only clean area being the ring around his eyes where his goggles rested.

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted when one of them placed her palm in front of Naruto's face before he could say anything.

"Please, spare us from your annoying voice," the girl said snidely.

"As if it weren't enough, he's so gross!"

"And smells!"

"I don't know why he and the hottest hunk in the village are allows to be here in the first place?"

"That's rich, he's so naïve!"

"Silly fox face boy..."

"He doesn't have what a woman needs to make them happy!"

They turned to leave, still throwing insults and cackling malevolently. "Let's go, before we get digger germs!" they shot back as they left, and Naruto was left humiliated. Naruto had nothing to do but walk away in the other direction, head down and spirits lower. He didn't look where he was going and soon stumbled upon someone.

"Walk with your head held high, Naruto!" that someone called out.

He lifted her head and blurted his name.

"Kamina?"

Kamina was Naruto's best friend and a kind of his second mentor to him. His most distinguishable characteristics were his orange glasses, which had a unique shape and also were the last thing his father left to him, his tattoos, that nobody in Jiha Village knew where he'd gotten them, and that his completely lack of a shirt or other similar piece of apparel, only his sarashi and pants. He was (according to the bald man's reckoning) two years Naruto's senior. _If you are wondering how he is here, Naruto used his new power to bring him back to life, but with a price with no memories. _

"Don't call me Kamina," he said, lifting his glasses, voice echoing with confidence. "Call me Bro!"

"Well, I..." His words failed him. Since he was an orphan, he didn't have a family, and after seen Kamina die in front of him was kind of hard for him to call someone family. That's what he said, but, in fact, every time he was next to him, every time he directed his voice to him, he had difficulty to find the right words for a few seconds, until that voice of his called him back from his memories.

Kamina was the fool in the village. But for Naruto it was different; he had been with Kamina since his father died. He had been the pillar supporting him life all that time, and he had dreams to change his world when he came of age and return to it.

Feeling his lack of confidence rising, he tapped his back and said, "It's okay, Naruto, we're soul brothers! We're siblings of the spirit! Don't worry about what those vain, fugly chicks say, I'm happy to hang out with you!" His words reassured him. One of Kamina's other traits was his complete obliviousness to the girls' crushes, even when they proposed to him. All he thought and talked about was the surface he had supposedly seen, leading to many people regarding him as a kind of eccentric. Naruto just laugh, holding both hands together, feeling more confident now. His usual cheer showed through. No matter what the queen bees said, every female was in agreement that Naruto's grin could light the village during lights-out hours, though his joy was usually tempered by sensibility and a tendency to easily become concerned for others.

Kamina noticed Naruto's new necklace, taking it between his thumb and forefinger and examining the tiny drill. He gave his verdict.

"This looks pretty good on you, kid!"

And with one swing he placed her drill-necklace over his neck, "Drills are your soul! Now, come with me! Y'know what I have in mind?"

"It's another of your plans?" Naruto said, curious. He liked to participate in Kamina's schemes, even though they were often crazy and always failures.

He heard someone breaking the lock of pig-mole pen as they approached it. It was Kamina's other friends, three guys, members of Team Gurren as Kamina called it.

"Gentlemen, sorry for the delay," Kamina announced, pushing Naruto along, "Is everything ready?"

"Yeah!" they answered together, one of them giving a thumbs-up.

"Listen up, Naruto!" Kamina commanded, pointing to his drill. "You're the best digger in the entire village! The chief gave you this drill so it's not his anymore. It's your drill now! Heck, it's who are you now! You are the drill!" Naruto stared, listening attentively, but the last part made him weirdness sense tingle. Kamina dramatically lifted his hand, pointing to the ceiling. "Yours is the drill that will break through the vault of heaven!" Naruto had been hearing those words since he was seven years old, and every time he heard them he remembered the first time they had been spoken.

_It was two days after Naruto's parents were buried in the burial grounds, in seclude area near a valley of volcanos. Naruto had stopped crying, He went underground and arrives at jiha village, then introduce himself, but he was still immobilized by grief. No family, no siblings, nobody to take care of him. Sitting on a rock, downcast, when the chief approached him._

_"Naruto, from now on you're going to be known as Naruto the Digger, newest member of the vanguard," he said, throwing him a portable drill and illumination goggles._

_"But I don't know if I can..." he replied, not looking to him, voice flat._

_"You'll learn fast, it's easy! You start tomorrow!"_

_Naruto grabbed the drill and looked at the artifact, sorrow flooding him heart. He didn't know what expect from the future; after all, his parents were dead, and he could just as easily join them. Naruto just stood there, crying and hiccupping._

_"Don't cry!" a boy called out. It was Kamina. He also had just lost his father, not so long ago, and since that age he had always worn his trademark glasses. The chief mumbled something about him being a storyteller and went away._

_"Why, Kamina?" He still didn't look at him._

_"Because I know that your parents won't come back, but I know that they'd want you head towards tomorrow." he stopped to hiccup and lifted his head, as the boy gradually raised his voice, while pointing to the skies to emphasize his point of view, "I know that above the ceiling there's a surface and with that drill," he pointed to his drill, "you can pierce the heavens themselves! That's the tomorrow we must head to!" He raised his arm and pointed to the ceiling._

_"But how?" he asked, still hurt inside, but feeling something different from sorrow inside him._

_"Because you're going to be best digger this village ever had!"_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Of course, because I believe in you! Believe in the Kamina who believes in you!"_

_Kamina's words had instilled a new feeling in his heart. In spite of everything, his parents always taught him to be positive, and now was the time. All he needed was someone to believe in him. Naruto got up, and said, weakly:_

_"Thank you."_

"So this is the time," Naruto said.

"Of course!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I have it all figured out, don't ask for a reason!"

Ten minutes later, the central pool was being raided by stampede of pig-moles. The big, wooly creatures ran through the village, passing over everything on their way (even the queen bees), with the five members of Team Gurren mounted on their tops. Everyone was panicking and struggling to not let go, but Kamina seemed to enjoy the situation.

"Yahoo! Step away, Team Gurren coming through!"

"We're climbing!" Naruto yelled when the group of pig-moles divided, running up opposite sides of the chamber.

"Listen up, Naruto!" Kamina called him attention, and pointing to the roof. "We're gonna use your drill to bust through the ceiling, you dig, and then... SURFACE!"

"That's your craziest plan yet!"

"You can do it!" At that moment, Boota appeared. He was a tiny pig-mole and Naruto's pet. He had clearly hitched a ride on one of the larger moles and somehow made his way to him. This obviously surprised the boy, but then he realized that Boota likely didn't want to be left behind.

They saw the second group coming from the other side, and, when they collided, they created a stair. When the pigs crashed with each other, they climbed each other, in a brown and furred spiral, rising to the ceiling.

"Fly, piggies!" Kamina yelled, seeing that his plan was going smoothly.

But, before they could reach the canopy, the chief appeared in the highest pathway, holding the Ancestral Sword and yelling "Kamina, you again!"

"How the hell did he get there so fast?" Naruto asked, holding tightly to the pig-mole.

"Step aside!" Kamina yelled, waving his arms in an attempt to convey this message to the chief. His efforts were in vain; the chief hit the lead pig-mole and the stair instantaneously collapsed, dropping all of them into the central pool.

Moments later, the chief was scolding the soaked Team Gurren. The entire village looked on.

"Once again I find myself lecturing you. Don't you get it? This 'surface' of yours doesn't exist!"

"Like hell it doesn't!" Kamina replied defiantly. "I've seen it with my own eyes! There's no walls or ceiling! Only a clean blue sky!"

"A liar's son is a liar too." The chief butted heads with him, glaring hate straight into his eyes. "Kami did nothing but fill your head of crap. And what happened to him? He's dead! Buried under a pile of rocks somewhere!"

"You're wrong!" Kamina replied, "My dad is on the surface! I was there with him!"

"Then what are you doing here, smart guy? You're not good enough to go the surface?"

Kamina growled, but didn't reply.

"You have to understand that this village is everything we have! For untold generations, we've been warned not to open the canopy! That's the rule and whoever doesn't obey the rules doesn't eat, understand? Into the stockade with you, without food!"

Upon hearing this, the other members of Team Gurren save Naruto immediately panicked and threw themselves down on the ground. "We're sorry, sir!" they begged.

"You backstabbers!" Kamina screamed, indignant. He seethed in rage as the chief slowly released the other three, deliberately feeding Kamina's anger, smirking all the time.

"Sorry, Bro," one of them apologized, embarrassed like the others.

"Staying without food is an extremely harsh punishment," another added. This was a fact; the food was rationed and distributed only once a day.

"Swallow your pride and apologize too, Bro..." the last one said.

Kamina only turned his head and glared daggers at them. "You don't have the right to call me Bro!" he hissed. The others panicked, again. "I don't ever wanna be called Bro by the likes of you three."

"The bonds of loyalty don't run too deep in this Gurren team of yours," the chief remarked, amused. He was also freeing Naruto. The boy didn't say a word, only looked down, with a long face. He didn't like being scolded, since he always did his best not to do anything wrong and to lose his brother again.

"Naruto you can go too. It's not your fault, and besides you have an important job in Jiha Village, the best vanguard digger, unlike that idiot."

"But I..." he said, weakly, inclining his head.

"Go ahead!" Kamina interrupted, still irritated but pensive. It was okay that the plan failed, it wasn't the first time, but being betrayed so easily by his so-called friends… that was something he hadn't taken in consideration. But now he knew he would face punishment. Naruto's welfare was the only thing that mattered now.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Suddenly the entire village was hit by a massive tremor.

"It's an earthquake!" someone yelled. The chief ordered everyone to take cover. The village suddenly became complete chaos, with everyone trying to protect themselves. Somebody was yelling that "The sky is falling! I told you this day'd come! The sky is falling!" Only Naruto and Kamina stood still, in the middle of the village.

"Kamina, let's get out of here!" Naruto said, as he tried to drag him.

"Kamina!" He tried to drag him but he wouldn't move.

Without looking at him, he said, "I don't run from anything!"

Naruto didn't understand. "Please," he begged, and he gave him a very concerned look, on the verge of tears, "Please if we don't go, we're going to get crushed!"

"Oh," he breathed, and looked at him. "I forgot what happened to you." He smiled and hugged her. "Sorry, bro. Don't worry, it's stopping." Naruto felt more confident, his fear dissipating. he sighed in relief and as he thought ," I don't want to lose you again"!

When the tremors stopped, Kamina took the advantage to talk to the people. "Are you gonna keep living in fear of earthquakes day after day?" he yelled. "On the surface there ain't no ceiling!"

This obviously angered the chief. "When are you going to give it up? I didn't look after you orphaned kids out of the goodness of my heart! It's because I am the chief! And I have to look out for the welfare of everyone, by all means necessary and if you don't want to abide the rules, there ain't no place for you here!" When the chief finished, he was breathing heavily. He wasn't very popular with the villagers, and this surely didn't help to boost his popularity. "Take him to the stockade," he ordered two men in whom he had confidence. "Without food!"

As they took Kamina, Naruto just stood still, helpless. He then looked back and gave a smile to him. he, for some reason, felt guilty about Kamina's incarceration. Then the chief interrupted him thoughts. "Naruto, finish your shift," he ordered. "Work helps to forget, ignore him." he nodded and went back to the digging area.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" the wise bald man, Hagatama, asked the chief rhetorically. He went to see the situation. Being one of the eldest members of the village, he was also one of the most experienced and acted like a teacher to the kids.

"Don't tell me you believe his blabber." The chief glanced at him, annoyed, but trying to be respectful.

"You cannot impede determined people when they set their mind to something. In my experience, I see that it is part of the human nature seek new things, to break free from the routine. Kamina's father was quite an example, and he inherited this characteristic."

"Who cares? As long as they keep their lives being the same, everything's gonna be alright, we don't have to care about what's beyond that canopy."

"Our only problems are the earthquakes, beside that we are accustomed to living underground. We are so used to it that it has become weirdly comfortable. But it seems that people are willing to give up comfort to have a chance to break free from their ignorance."

"Ignorance is bliss and power. If we avoid creating more people like Kamina, we won't have anything to worry about."

"I do not know if that is actually possible. The human instinct is quite mysterious..."

"Think whatever you want, just don't teach the kids this stuff!" The chief stalked off in a huff. The wise bald man just shook his head and sighed.

Elsewhere, at the digging site, Naruto talked to Boota, before he resumed his work. "Boota, I can't stop thinking about what to Kamina, my parents, my father Simon and my home world" he said as he caressed his back. he had taken care of Boota since he was 10, when he adopted him. His natural mother had rejected him and so Naruto had become his father, sort of, giving him food and shelter. One curious thing was that Boota never grew. The biggest pig-mole ever recorded in the village had weighed almost 450 kilograms (or almost 1000 pounds), but Boota never surpassed a certain size, a bit bigger than the palm of Naruto's hand.

"Buu, buu," he replied, purring in delight.

"So, I need to ask you a favor: go see if he's alright and, if possible, bring him some food." Naruto let Boota down on the ground and laugh. The tiny pig-mole nodded and ran to see Kamina. Naruto grabbed his drill and mused, "Well, it's three hours 'till the sleep time, but I can finish way before, which gives me enough time to do my own thing." he set his drill into the earth and started to dig.

Hours passed, and once Naruto finished digging for the village, he dug for himself. The deeper he dug, the warmer the soil became. Following him curiosity, he decided the follow the heat, digging his way through. He dug down, finding nothing but soft soil in his way. He start to remember his father origin and the history of this world , the tale that been told by his father "_Long time ago, humans live on the surface. Then, they discovered Spiral energy which marked as the rise of humanity to whole new level. One day, the Anti-Spiral, beings who were a Spiral race a long time ago, declared war on the humans and other Spiral races. The Spiral races lost to the Anti-Spirals after fighting them for a long time. The Anti-Spirals left a machine that could destroy the humans after their numbers reach 1000000 people. Genome, a brilliant scientist and one of the most fearsome Spiral warriors, who created the Beastmen race, knew that the humans will destroy themselves and force them to live underground. In despair, he commanded his troops to kill every human being that dare to walk on the surface. For thousands of years, humans live in fear, knowing they would never survive on the surface. Eventually, humans began to forget of the reason why they fear the surface. Some of them are foolish enough climb up to the surface and never return."_

Being spook by the tale He was starting to wonder how far he would have to dig he finally stuck something different. It was harder than the usual rocks he found. It was glowing, just like the mini-drill of his necklace; actually, it was blinking in time with his necklace.

He dug around to take out the soil surrounding the object; when he finished, he saw it was a face, a big face, red and white. The face didn't show any discernible expression, only idleness. However the details were well-crafted and he could clearly see the lines of expression as if it weren't metal; there was a circular cavity in the forehead.

_I must tell bro!_ he thought and smiled.

Digging through the soil, he went directly to the stockade, since he knew how to go to any place in the village. He even managed to surface right underneath Kamina, popping out of the dirt with an excited shout: "Kamina!"

" _Naruto_?" he said, surprised with _Naruto_ 's sudden appearance, and ignoring the awkward positioning of his drill right in the middle of his lap. "What's up?"

"You're not gonna believe what I discovered. You have to see it!"

"Really?" he said, a bit drowsy. "Uh, that would be jailbreak, but who cares?" He flexed his arms and snapped the rope shackles that were holding him.

_Naruto_ lead Kamina to the digging area, since it would be difficult for him to go out the way she came in due to his size. During their walk, _Naruto_ apologized for his sudden appearance, because he was so thrilled with discovery that he hadn't thought about the time. Kamina made an offhanded comment about the chief getting mad, but it was clear that he didn't care.

"So, what could be so important to make me bust out of jail to see?"

"It's a face!" _Naruto_ said, with an overjoyed voice, echoing through the empty village. He would regret that lapse later "It's an awesome, humongous face!"

Suddenly, they were illuminated by spotlights manned by the chief's new helpers, the other three (former) members of Team Gurren. They had to cover their eyes from the light, but they could hear the chief's voice and he wasn't amused. They had both forgotten that the chief stood guard during sleeping hours.

"Kamina! _Naruto_! You two are in serious trouble!"

"_Naruto_, is this the humongous face you were talking about?" Kamina deadpanned once his eyes were used to the light. _Naruto_ just shook his head nervously. he was busted.

"Breaking out of jail is a serious crime!" yelled the chief. He turned to _Naruto_. "And don't think I'm not aware of your extra tunnels you've been digging in secret!" he was even more busted.

Kamina stepped in front of him, lifting his arms horizontally, trying to acquit him. "Leave him alone! he hasn't doing anything wrong, it's my fault!"

Again the chief glared at him, smashing his big forehead against his, "Oh, I know how much you're guilty! Corrupting the minds of the kids with this surface-talk, refusing to abide the rules, just like your father! It's time to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" And he hit him with the Ancestral Sword. In spite of the hard hit, Kamina didn't flinch or even blink. His defiance angered the chief even more. Judging by the look in his eyes, anyone could see that the thought of unsheathing the sword passed his mind, an easy way to finish his problems, but he chose to not do this, and hit Kamina again. Again, he didn't flinch, but _Naruto_ noticed he moved his lips a bit, indicating that he was enduring the pain. When the chief lifted his sword to hit him again, _Naruto_ had enough ,remember his brothers words before he die in his world and placed himself in front of him, shouting, "Please, stop!"

It was too late. The chief accidentally hit him on the top his head. Everyone was appalled by his attitude. _Naruto_, feeling the pain, fell to his knees, putting his hands to him head and sobbing quietly. Kamina forgot the chief and leaned down, trying to console him, massaging him head. "_Naruto_, are you alright? It will pass soon..."

The chief's anger become remorse, and he muttered, "That's gonna leave a mark."

"And do you know what mark is?" Hagatama showed up, having seen everything. "The mark of pain. Our village is a community, everyone knows everyone, and so if one suffers, the entire village also suffers with her. No matter how much we try to counter Kamina's desire to go to the surface, he set his mind to go to the surface. It is better we finally show him the way his father used to go. I do not want to see anyone hurt anymore."

"Wait, bald man," Kamina said, as he helped _Naruto_ to get up. he got to her feet, though his eyes were still watered. "How do you know?"

"And you're saying that the surface is real?" the chief asked, agape.

"You never paid attention to the last instructions of my brother," reprimanded Hagatama. He turned to Kamina. "Your father was treated like a ruffian and eccentric, just like you, when my brother was the chief, and he let him go, showing him the air ducts that link us to the surface. I think you were too young to remember the way."

"And why you didn't tell me before?" he said, with a mix of surprise and indignation.

"Kamina, think for a moment," the wise bald man said, calmly. "Do you not think our ancestors had a good reason to tell us to never open the canopy? Do you not think there are dangers beyond our imagination above the ceiling? Before you go I must ask you: are you aware that this decision may lead to your death?"

"Yes, I am," he said, proud of his own answer, ready to go to the surface at any cost. "A true man must be responsible for his own actions, and face its consequences with manliness!"

"Very well, I will show you the way tomorrow. In the meantime, get some sleep. It's been a long night."

"But I wanna see the surface now!" whined Kamina. He was so eager to go to the surface that he ignored Hagatama's wise advice, in a rather contrasting manner with his last declaration. On the other hand, the tattooed youngster should have chosen his words better. Another earthquake started, waking up the entire village, and once again everyone was running and screaming to find shelter. This time it was a really strong earthquake; they stared in shock when the ceiling started to crack and finally broke open entirely. Beams of sunlight descended upon the village, as dust and rocks fell from the opening in the canopy.

"I see the light," one villager yelled, "And it burns!"

"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" somebody yelled.

"It's the surface!" the chief screamed in shock.

"There's something more falling!"

What seemed to be a big boulder also came from the opening, falling in the middle of the central pool. When the dust cleared, they saw a white, giant face. It was a frightening view, because the face had lots and lots of teeth, forming a malevolent and creepy grin; it had big and menacing yellow eyes, which glowed out from under a pair of horns. In its hand it was holding a big club.

"So, _Naruto_, this humongous face you wanted to show me..." Kamina said, pulling his glasses down over his eyes. _Naruto_, the chief and the wise bald man were all quivering in terror.

"IS THIS?"


End file.
